帯祝い (Obi Iwai).

For those of you that know Shin, you are well aware that he is not the most punctual of individuals. In fact, on the rare occasions that he is on time it's most likely due to dumb luck or my incessant nagging, rather than careful planning. 'Better late than never' has become something of a mantra in our house. Our trip to Nakayama Temple for Obi Iwai is one such example.

It is custom for families in Japan to visit a temple in the fifth month of pregnancy to pray for the health of their baby. I had never heard of this custom until a friend of mine and a couple of students asked me if we had been yet.

Of course we hadn't.

So, as I entered the twenty-fifth week of my pregnancy (that would be month six) we met up with the in-laws and headed out say our prayers.

Although I had asked around, I still didn't really understand what was supposed to go down when we got to the temple. I was under the impression that we would show up, some guy would bind up my belly and we'd call it a day. It was the belly binding that was causing me some stress.

Over the last few weeks The Bean, and subsequently myself, have been going through a growth spurt. Said growth has turned my stomach into an angry, red monster. I religiously slather it in vitamin E cream in an attempt to fight off stretch marks (so far so good) but my skin is a disgusting red mess. Anyway, not really something that I want to be flashing a stranger with.

Luckily, my belly stayed safe inside my clothing where it belongs.

It turns out that the whole 'ceremony', if you could call it that, takes only a few minutes. We came, we dropped 7000 yen on a paper envelope full of goodies, and five minutes later prepared to leave.

Inside the envelope there is a white cotton obi that Shin and I are to tie around my belly on 犬の日 (Dog Day) later in November, along with other lucky charms to help The Bean make a healthy and safe entrance into world.

On our way out we passed a small Buddha that was surrounded by baby bibs covered in messages that parents had written for their little beans. I liked the idea of this far more than the belly wrapping and we got a bib for The Bean.

I don't know if this is like making a wish on a birthday cake, if you tell it won't come true, so I'll just give you the gist of it. My message was a wish for the health of our baby boy.

 

 

Shin was kind enough to wish for an easy labour and birth for both myself and The Bean. Thank you honey! xx

 



I'm not religious by any means but I figure that good vibes are welcome, no matter where they come from. And that was certainly accomplished by our little outing to Nakayama Temple.

Two days late.

Better late than never.